Best Substack Music Blogs for 2025: 13 Newsletters Worth Your Time

The best music newsletters on Substack for 2025, from Ted Gioia’s cultural criticism to First Floor’s electronic deep dives. Human-curated discovery that algorithms can’t replicate.

Here’s a confession: I spend more time reading about music than most streaming platforms think is healthy. But here’s what I’ve learned, the best discoveries don’t come from algorithms. They come from people who genuinely care.

In 2025, Substack has become the home of serious music writing. While traditional music media keeps shrinking and social media reduces everything to 15-second clips, something different is happening here. Writers, critics, and obsessive collectors are building newsletters that feel like the best music blogs from the 2000s, but with a direct line to your inbox.

These aren’t content farms churning out SEO-optimized lists. These are people who spent decades in record stores, radio stations, and clubs, now sharing what they know with whoever wants to listen.

Here are the 13 music newsletters worth following.